Chapter 16
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“Cain, behind you! Look behind you!”
At Ariana’s cry, Cain turned around.
He immediately swung his mace at the demonic beast that was about to ambush him from behind.
“Krk, keuh…”
Before he could even check the beast that collapsed with a thud, another one lunged at him from the side.
Murderous intent filled the crimson eyes of the demonic beast.
As if possessed by something, it was a mindless monster that knew nothing except the urge to slaughter whatever stood before it.
This place was crawling with such monsters.
No matter how many they killed, there was no end.
Like a flowing river, they kept surging in endlessly, again and again.
“Be careful, Cain!”
While protecting Ariana, who was shouting toward Cain, Louis unwittingly frowned.
Certainly, it hadn't been like this before.
Of course, until now, they had never had to face so many demonic beasts at once.
Even so, he could not shake the feeling that in the past, it would not have been this overwhelming.
It was not something he felt only here on the fifth floor.
It had been the same on the fourth floor, where hallucinations and auditory hallucinations had tormented them, and where he had nearly gone half mad and wasted away until death.
I’ve been feeling this way all along.
Reciting an offensive magic spell, Louis pondered what exactly had changed compared to before.
Finding the answer was not difficult.
In the distance, he could see three figures who had already reached the third island.
Among them was Felix, the companion they had parted ways with on the fourth floor.
He did not know how Felix had ended up joining that group, but Felix was someone who made little difference whether he was there or not.
It was enough if he barely managed to do his own share.
So there was no way Felix was the reason they were struggling now.
Rosette.
The reason the situation on their side had become this difficult was surely because Rosette had been left behind by the group.
We should never have left Rosette behind like that.
Leonard’s decision to exclude her from the group had been foolish.
The others might not have known, but Louis understood Rosette’s true value.
At a glance, she seemed incompetent, but she was exceptional at finding items they desperately needed.
However, just before opening the exit on the third floor, Leonard judged that Rosette was no longer useful.
Calling it a waste to share food or items with her, he coldly abandoned her.
And what was the result?
The group that included Rosette had already reached the third island safely.
The only difference between them and that group was the absence or presence of Rosette.
As time passed, Louis felt that difference more sharply and more painfully.
“Louis, hurry. We have to move!”
Letting Ariana’s urging voice go in one ear and out the other, he once again chanted an offensive magic spell.
The second island, which was not actually that far away, felt impossibly distant.
Could they really make it there?
Was it even possible?
At this point, it seemed utterly hopeless.
What was even more daunting was the fact that they would have to endure at least five more grueling battles like this in the future, even if they somehow survived now.
Damn it.
Louis clenched his teeth.
This could never work like this.
While ceaselessly chanting magic spells, he fixed his gaze on the distant third island.
No matter how much he thought about it, Rozette needed to be in this group.
She was an absolutely necessary existence to escape safely.
It's not certain, but it looked like she even treated those serious injuries herself.
Rosette’s injuries had been the decisive reason and pretext Leonard used to leave her behind.
Now that problem had been resolved, there was no reason she could not rejoin them.
They had to bring Rosette back.
Even if Leonard objected, Louis intended to force the issue.
To do that, they first had to somehow finish this battle safely and reach the third island where Rosette was.
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The moment they climbed onto the island, Felix collapsed with a thud.
“I’m fine…”
No one had asked, but Felix kept muttering that he was fine, as if chanting a spell.
Sigh.
I took out a bean and moved to put it into Felix’s mouth.
No, I was about to.
“Give it to me.”
If Isael had not stopped me midway.
“I’ll do it.”
“Huh? Uh. Okay.”
Taking the bean from my hand, Isael pried Felix’s mouth open roughly and shoved the bean inside.
Then, as if disgusted by touching something filthy, he wiped his hand hard against his pants.
“Still, it’s a relief that it doesn’t seem like you were poisoned.”
“Haha... Yeah. There was no poison, so that's why I'm barely alive right now...”
It was not really something to say when he had nearly had his arm torn off, but still, in many ways, it really was fortunate.
We had made it safely to the third island.
“Ugh…”
Watching Felix groan in pain, I swallowed a sigh.
We're not particularly close, but seeing a person injured like this didn't sit well with me.
“Does it hurt a lot?”
“No, ugh, I’m fine. I’m getting better.”
Felix had been bitten on the arm by a demonic beast that resembled a wolf, except it had two heads.
Even though Isael severed one head immediately, the beast tenaciously clung to Felix.
Isael followed up by slicing off the remaining head, but in the end, Felix suffered a deep bite wound on his right arm.
“Thank you, Your Highness. If it weren’t for you, my arm really would have been severed...”
“No need.”
Isael brushed off Felix’s heartfelt thanks indifferently.
After eating the bean, Felix’s wound began to heal quickly.
“I’m fine, so just leave me and do what you need to do, Rosette. You always have so much to do and never get proper rest… Busy and all…”
Saying that like a last testament, Felix closed his eyes.
I did not know whether he had fainted or fallen asleep, but at least he was not dead.
Letting out a breath of relief, I checked how many beans were left in the cloth pouch.
On the previous island, Isael and Felix had each eaten one bean, and in this battle, I had eaten one when I used the resentful spirit.
Then Felix had just eaten another one, leaving fourteen beans remaining now.
This is the third island.
To reach the final island with the door, we still had to cross three more islands.
Which meant we would have to fight demonic beasts four more times.
From now on, I need to conserve the beans.
Unless it was a deep wound, I had to avoid using them as much as possible and save them.
I would need them on the next floor, and the one after that, too.
“Isael, are you hurt anywhere?”
“No.”
Isael shook his head immediately, then asked in return.
“What about you? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine too.”
As I answered, I carefully scanned Isael’s body.
At a glance, there did not seem to be any serious injuries, but you never knew.
“…Are you really not hurt anywhere?”
When I asked again with a doubtful expression, Isael nodded firmly.
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
“You’re not hiding anything again, are you?”
“No.”
“Really not?”
“Yeah, really not.”
With a serious look, Isael added, “I’ll never let myself get hurt from being careless like before. Never again. So don’t worry.”
The momentum behind his words was impressive.
What kind of resolve had he suddenly made…
Still, it was a relief that he was safe. I went back to organizing my bag.
Then Isael suddenly asked, “What about you? You’re not lying about being fine, are you?”
“Huh?”
Why is this guy acting like a paranoid patient again?
“I said I’m fine?”
“If that’s the case, you look like a mess. If you’re hurt anywhere, why don’t you say so honestly?”
“…I look like a mess right now?”
Isael nodded like he was stating the most obvious fact in the world.
“Yeah.”
“……”
I was left speechless.
He was really blunt.
No, I mean, we just came back from a bloody fight with demonic beasts. Wouldn’t it be stranger if I looked perfectly fine?
I was about to glance at my reflection in the river when Isael spun me around in shock.
“Are you crazy?!”
Grabbing both my arms with his hands, he snapped at me.
“What do you think you’re doing?! That’s dangerous! Aren’t you scared at all…!”
“No, it’s just that there’s no mirror. I was only going to look from far away, roughly.”
“Haa… Stop it. I’ll do it for you.”
Letting out a long sigh, Isael soon put on a very serious expression and began fixing my hair.
Maybe because he was thoroughly annoyed, his touch was very, very far from gentle.
Even so, he took his time tidying my hair, then roughly wiped my face with his sleeve.
A moment later, Isael took a step back, quietly looked me over, and nodded.
“Done.”
Done, my ass.
I just got scolded out of nowhere, had my face scrubbed raw… I’m in a really foul mood, you know?
I glared at Isael with a face full of complaints.
I was going to point out that he looked like a mess too…
Why is he handsome?
…What is with this guy, looking good even when he’s disheveled?
I just quietly shut my mouth.
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